The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry, where it is currently the main opposition.
Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran , popularly known by his initials M.G.R., was an Indian actor, film producer, film director, politician and philanthropist who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987. He was the founder and first general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. On 19 March 1988, Ramachandran was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. Ramachandran is regarded as one of the most influential politicians of post-independence India. Apart from politics, as a film personality he won the National Film Award, two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and two Filmfare Award South.
Dravidar Kazhagam is a social movement founded by "Thanthai Periyar" E. V. Ramasamy. Its original goals were to eradicate the ills of the existing caste and class system including untouchability and on a grander scale to obtain a "Dravida Nadu" from the Madras Presidency. Dravidar Kazhagam would in turn give birth to many other political parties, including Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and later the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
V. R. Nedunchezhiyan was an Indian politician and writer. He served thrice as the Chief Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. He served as a senior cabinet minister under the governments of C. N. Annadurai, M. Karunanidhi, M. G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa. For his literary contributions, he was also known as "Navalar" or the eloquent.
Politics of Tamil Nadu is the politics related to the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Thiru SD Somasundaram also known as S.D.S., was a political leader and administrator who served as a cabinet minister of the Tamil Nadu state.
Dravidian parties include an array of regional political parties in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, which trace their origins and ideologies either directly or indirectly to the Justice Party and the Dravidian movement of C. Natesanar and Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. The Dravidian movement was based on the linguistic divide in India, where most of the Northern Indian, Eastern Indian and Western Indian languages are classified as Indo-Aryan, whereas the South Indian languages are classified as Dravidian. Dravidian politics has developed by associating itself to the Dravidian community. The original goal of Dravidian politics was to achieve social equality, but it later championed the cause of ending the domination of North India over the politics and economy of the South Indian province known as Madras Presidency.
The eighth legislative assembly election for Tamil Nadu was held on 24 December 1984. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won the election and its general secretary, incumbent M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R) was sworn in as Chief Minister, for the third time. The election victory was mainly attributed to the sympathy wave created by Indira Gandhi's assassination and M.G.R's illness coupled with Rajiv Gandhi's popularity. This is the last election M.G.R contested as he died in office in 1987. This is also the only General Election which M. Karunanidhi did not contest since 1957 until his death. As of 2023, this is the last election where the ruling party gained seats.
The sixth legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held on 10 June 1977. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won the election defeating its rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). M. G. Ramachandran, the AIADMK founder and a leading Tamil film actor, was sworn in as Chief Minister for the first time. The election was a four-cornered contest between the AIADMK, DMK, the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Janata Party.
The fifth legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held in March 1971. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was re-elected, after its first victory under the leadership of C N Annadurai in 1967. This was the first time M. Karunanidhi, contested as the leader of DMK party won the election, since he assumed Chief Ministership for the first time, after the death of C N Annadurai. Karunanidhi had emerged successfully in the leadership crisis (having supported by M. G. Ramachandran, against Nedunchezhiyan, which ensued after the death of C. N. Annadurai. The main opposition party in the election was Indian National Congress led by K. Kamaraj, whereas the Indian National Congress faction aligned with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. This was the first instance in which the National ruling party which was bent into a coalition where the state party would take all seats for state legislature in exchange for half seats for lok sabha in the state.
Paul Hector Pandian was an Indian politician of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu from Tirunelveli district. He served as the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 1985 to 1989. He served as Deputy Speaker and Speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 21 June 1980 to 5 February 1989. He was one of the only two candidates elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislature from the V. N. Janaki Ramachandran Faction of AIADMK in 1989, when he won the Cheranmahadevi seat. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Tirunelveli Parliamentary constituency in 1999. He was the organising secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam which was led by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
The third legislative assembly election to the Madras state was held on 21 February 1962. The Indian National Congress party, led by K. Kamaraj, won the election. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam made significant in-roads in the election and emerged as the second party for the first time by winning 50 seats. 1962 Election remains the most recent election in which Indian National Congress to form a majority Government in the State as its support was heavily declined due to rise of Dravidian political parties.
S. Natarajan Udayar was an Indian politician and 3 time DMK MLA from Thanjavur Constituency. A close friend and supporter of Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy, he was an early member of Dravidar Kazhagam. His association with Aringar C N Annadurai made him part ways with E.V.R. politically and join Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) as one of the earliest and founding members of DMK.
C. Ponnaiyan is an Indian politician. He is one of the founding members of the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party. He is the former member of the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from Tiruchengode constituency in 1977, 1980, 1984 and 2001. He served as the Presidium Chairman of AIADMK from 2003 to 2006.
Panruti S. Ramachandran is an Indian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu.
V. Karuppasamy Pandian is an Indian politician and a former Member of the Legislative Assembly in Tamil Nadu. He is currently one of the leaders of the anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) party in Tirunelveli district.
S. Madhavan was an Indian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly as a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate from the Thirukoshtiyur constituency in the 1962 election, from the Tiruppattur constituency in 1967 and 1971, and as an Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate in 1984 election.
K. V. Kandaswamy or k.v.k was an Indian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly as an Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate from Kinathukadavu constituency in 1977, 1980 and 1984 elections. He was widely considered to be the right hand of the CM, Dr M. G. Ramachandran. In the 1977 election he defeated the then DMK cabinet minister M. Kannappan. Kandaswamy was very popular among his people and lived without any caste difference. It was said that there were only two houses in Tamil Nadu which do not close, one being that of M. G. Ramachandran and the other being his own house where he lived alone till his death in 2008. He was a notorious and aggressive campaigner often defying the party lines and the CM, earning him the name "Negamam Napolean". This name was also used in the film Amaidhi Padai.
R. M. Veerappan, also referred to as RMV or Rama Veerappan, was an Indian film producer, screenwriter and politician from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was the founder and leader of the MGR Kazhagam party. He served as a Cabinet Minister in five governments from 1977 to 1996, was a three-time Member of Legislative Council and a two-time Member of the Legislative Assembly. He was the Leader of the House for Legislative Assembly and Leader of ADMK party of the Legislative Council. He was the architect behind the ADMK organization, unified the MGR fan clubs for the party formation. He was called as the 'Chanakya' of AIADMK politics in the 70's and 80's.
The AIADMK-led Alliance is an Indian regional political party alliance in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry led by the Dravidian party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam founded by the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.).
